What's in my make-up travel bag?

Keeping my travel make-up fairly simple(ish!) and packing all of the above:-

Brows: Korres Eyebrow Pencil in 1 Dark Shade
Eyes: Benefit Lemon Aid, Urban Decay Primer Potion, Urban Decay Naked Palette, Urban Decay Double Eyeliner with Zero and Whiskey, The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara.
Face: Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer, MyFace MyMix Foundation in Medium 02, The Body Shop Vitamin E Tinted Moisture Lotion, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealers in 2 Light and 3 Medium, Everyday Minerals Mint Colour Corrector, The Body Shop Lightening Touch Pen in 03, Benefit High Beam, Witch Pressed Powder.
Cheeks & contour: The Balm Fratboy Blush, MAC Eversun Beauty Powder Blush, Benefit Hoola bronzer
Lips: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in 050 Berry Smoothie, Diego Dalla Palma Lipstick in 42, Barry M Lipgloss Wand in Toffee, Elf Conditioning Lip Balm with SPF 15 in Nice and Natural.





Onto brushes (all of which will obviously be cleaned beforehand! from L-R):-
Joliebox Concealer Brush, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Brush (that came with the Naked Palette), Models Own Eye Blending Brush, Avon Eyeshadow Brush, Elf Complexion Brush, Everyday Minerals Angled Contour Brush, Ecotools Blush Brush, Everyday Minerals Kabuki Brush, Elf Fan Brush, The Body Shop Eyelash Curlers.

Only last thing to pack beauty-wise other than the bigger stuff like straightners and hairdryer etc, are nail polishes, will probably take two or three with me I think.

Are there any amazing Japanese beauty brands I should be looking for?

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October Favourites

I know I say this every month, but doesn't time fly? I usually try to pick just a handful of favourite products, but October was such a good month for discovering some new (and old) ones that there are about two handfuls here. Oh well! Here's what I loved:-

Purity Conditioning Cleansing Lotion - my new make-up remover that is incredibly gentle and just lovely to use. I have used Lush's Ultrabland for around two years but feel that this light Purity one may replace it. We'll see. Purity Facial Exfoliator - so, so good! One of the best exfoliators I've ever tried. Korres Body Butter in Quince - I wasn't sure of this at first but the scent has really grown on me, was from my Boudoir Prive box. Montagne Jeunesse Sauna Masque - amazing self-heating mask that smells great and leaves skin feeling thoroughly cleansed, and they're so cheap!

Dermalogica Lip Complex - my favourite Dermalogica product out of the three sent by Glossybox, I've nearly used it all up (well it is tiny!). L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream - a go-to hand cream that I've used for years and was happy to pick up as a magazine freebie. If you have dry hands, using this will make them all soft and supple again. Ceteum SCR Gold Illuminating Mask - a great exfoliating mask that makes skin look visibly clearer and brighter, I was very impressed with this. Another Boudoir Prive fav! Daniel Sandler Eye Delight in Peach - I was so unsure of this to start with but when I tried it, it just suited my skintone beautifully and is really easy to blend with, from my Carmine box.

The Balm Blush in Fratboy - this has soon become an all time favourite blush of mine, it's just so nice and subtle to add some colour to your face, also from the Carmine box. Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel - Snow Fairy is back and I still love using it, smells like cotton candy! Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Moray - gorgeous olive/khaki green with a gold undertone and it stays put until you remove it, my favourite item from Glossybox. StudioMakeUp Line Styler Pen - I was worried that this would be quite smudgy but it stayed put well with primer underneath and its fine tip makes doing flicks and cat eyes super easy, another Boudoir Prive fav.

What have been your favourite products recently?

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Carmine Box - October 2011

Carmine is the latest box to join the beauty subscription craze. I didn't sign up for this one straight away when bloggers started talking about it because I'm already signed up to Glossybox and Boudoir Prive. However, when I saw the contents of Carmine's first box, I decided that I had to have at least this one to try out. Carmine's beauty box is much longer (the size of the box itself) in comparison to GB and BP, more like a small shoebox. But it's the inside which is the most different.



It's bright green! I'm not a big fan of this but I'm happy that it's not another pale pink box.



Onto the contents. Three full size products and two good sized travel/handbag samples. Very impressed!



The product leaflet is also the most well designed one I've seen so far from the all of the beauty boxes I've tried.



(1) Trind Nail Repair in Natural, full size 9ml (£12.95) - I'm currently using a small version of OPI's Nail Envy so I'm interested to try this out afterwards to compare the two.




(2) The Balm All in One Shadow/Blush in Fratboy, full size 8.5g (£16.34) - "this peachy-apricot-coloured blush doubles up as an eye shadow and miraculously adds life to any skin tone." Wow, this blush is gorgeous! A lovely subtle shade that seems to compliment most people, I love it! This was my main reason for ordering the box and I'm so happy with it. I don't think I'd use it as an eye shadow but as a blush it's just divine.



Pretty!



(3) Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream, 30ml sample (full size 100ml - £14.50) - "ultra effective and seriously smoothing, made with 98.8% ingredients of natural origin." I really like the Balance Me, they're one of my favourites new brands to come onto the eco/natural market and I'm looking forward to using this hand cream. Smells lush!



(4) Caudalie Quenching Sorbet Creme, 10ml sample (full size 40ml - £20) - "naturally refresh and hydrate your skin with all the anti-oxidising powers of red grape seed." I've been wanting to try out Caudalie products, so I'm interested to see if this will work for my skin, which like most people's, gets very thirsty in winter. Smells very nice.



(5) Daniel Sandler Eye Delight in Peach, full size 3g (£10.25) - "a pot of sweet, shimmery dust to give eyes a little something to smile about." This was the product that I was initially the least excited about and thought that I would have to give it away because the colour looked orange! I tried it out and it's actually gorgeous, I love it! There was minimal fallout and you can build up or blend out as much as you like for different looks. Mine below just show a subtle amount:-




Summary: It's rare that I like absolutely everything in a beauty box, there's usually at least one item that I give to a friend or swap for something, but this box from Carmine was perfect for me. Incredible value for money (especially as I had a half-price code for this one, yay!) and the products are all fantastic. A great mix of make-up and more natural skincare, let's hope that it isn't just a one-off!

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